CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The George Washington men’s tennis team completed Day 1 of the 2012 USTA/ITA Atlantic Regional Championship on Friday, hosted by the University of Virginia at the Cavaliers’ Snyder Tennis Center and the Boars Head Sports Club.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Atlantic Region includes schools located in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. The tournament is a single-elimination format and winners of the singles and doubles flights will earn automatic bids to the ITA National Indoor Championship in November.

In singles action, junior Ulrik Thomsen defeated Thomas O’Brien of Villanova, 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 128 and will face Old Dominion’s Carlos Lopez-Villa, the No. 13 seed in the draw, at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday. Senior Alexander van Gils earned a three-set victory over Virginia Tech’s Trpimir Kudundzic by scores of 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. He will play Atlantic 10 foe, VCU’s Alejandro Argente on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Junior Viktor Svensson fell to Chris Young of PennState, 7-5, 6-3, in Round 1 and will play Old Dominion’s Alfredo Rodriguez in the first consolation round at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Senior Leonardo Lapentti dropped a 6-3, 7-6 match to William & Mary’s Josh Banks and will face UMBC’s Gaulthier Berret at 12:30 p.m. Junior Nikita Fomin, who is seeded 15th, received a bye in the round of 128 and will take on CJ Griffin of Penn State at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. Freshman Danil Zelenkov – the No. 15 seed in the tournament – received a bye through Round 1 and will face Liberty’s Jore Azuero at 9 a.m.

In doubles action, Fomin and Zelenkov teamed up to defeat UMBC’s Kamal Patel and Hunter McCawley, 8-5, to advance to the round of 32. The pair will play Eric and Evan Ward from MorganState at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Lapentti and Svensson fell to Delaware’s Troy Beneck and Adam Lawton, 8-1

Fans can follow @GWMensTennis on Twitter for periodic updates throughout the USTA/ITA Atlantic Regional.